Raider Take Express for 9/2
Here is the latest edition of the Raider Take Express, our weekly roundup of input and observations around the turf of Raider Take. Please keep sending your ideas, tips and feedback to raidertake@yahoo.com.
1. M-Diddy wrote with a link to this article, which actually gives the Raiders credit for signing Jeff George. Better yet, it’s written by a confirmed Raiders Hater from Kansas City. He writes: You laugh at Al Davis and Art Shell. You laugh because you can't fight your hypocritical nature…It's foolish to blast Davis and Shell for doing what makes perfect sense to anyone with the brains to look beyond the easy jokes about George.
Finally, someone in the national media (the local coverage has been pretty fair) consulted their brain before flapping their gums about this whole Jeff George affair. Click here for The Raider Way’s take on this astonishing development.
2. At the other end of the spectrum, we have a senior writer at Sports "Mothership of The Raiders Haters" Illustrated using the Jeff George signing as an excuse to call the Raiders the worst team in the NFL this year. Wow, how perceptive and reasonable.
3. Thanks to Raider News, Raider Nation Podcast, RaiderFans.net, RaiderWorld.net, Silver & Black Illustrated online and others for spreading the good word about the First Drive Experiment, through which the Raider Nation is encouraged to chant “Raiii-derrrs” throughout San Diego’s first offensive drive on September 11, with the intent of pumping up our team; freaking out Philip Rivers; and sending a message to a national television audience that the Raider Nation remains loud and proud. Who knows, it just might happen.
4. Jerry Porter’s star is no longer just falling. It has hit the turf with a resounding thud. Damon wrote with a link to this article, in which George “Minister of Propaganda” Atkinson calls Porter out. This is quite a reversal of the scene last year, when my cousin and I witnessed George coddling Jerry during a live postgame broadcast at Everett & Jones BBQ. Meanwhile, Jesse turned me on to this column, in which the author rather colorfully sums up the Porter situation and its symbolic resonance. Nevertheless, I don’t want to kick a guy when he’s down (too late, I guess). It is my hope that Porter will wake up and face the music. I hate to see such potential squandered by immaturity and selfishness. If he changes his tune, I will welcome him back. If he doesn’t, then he can just walk the plank.
5. I received an amazing email from BlandaRocked, a diehard Raiders fan since 1969. After he left the Bay Area for Los Angeles, the Raiders arrived three years later. After he returned the Bay Area, the Raiders returned to Oakland three years later. He writes: “I have often said that no football owner has ever shown so much loyalty to one fan.”
He wrote to thank “all of the Raiders blogging network" and asked me to pass the message along. Here’s what he says: “I check for Raider news daily. If my time is limited, I check the Raider blogs and forgo the press. You guys create a kind of daily of the Raiders and the greatest, most knowledgeable fans the NFL has ever seen. You tell the truth with optimism rather than negative, conventional wisdom (i.e., preferred NFL spin)… Having been a passionate Raider fan since 1969, I can intrinsically understand what is happening with the Raiders internally by watching how they play on the field. Your blogs confirm my suspicions, boost my optimism, keep me interested, and provide me with information that I can't get from the media.”
He continues: “Take just a moment to consider what we are currently watching, and the wild ride upon which we are about to be taken. We will be content with a 7-9 season, and mark that as definite improvement. But take just a little time to consider the image of Al Davis and Art Shell, standing side by side, in this season which saw the induction of the great John Madden into the Hall, and being presented with the big silver football on a pedestal. Old school Raiders returning to haunt the ghost of Pete Rozelle. Such is the subject of epic sports novels and movies, and it could happen in real life right before our very eyes. My Raider bothers and sisters, we will enjoy that highest of highs together, just as we have suffered together over the past three season. One cannot truly appreciate the highest of highs without having experienced the lowest of lows. Is it just possible that we are about to be rewarded for our loyalty as no other sports fans have ever been rewarded? Whatever the outcome, I want to thank you in advance for contributing to what may be the most remarkable Raider season I have ever experienced. We stand proud together. And thank you for making the best of football experiences even better.”
Thank, YOU, BlandaRocked!
1. M-Diddy wrote with a link to this article, which actually gives the Raiders credit for signing Jeff George. Better yet, it’s written by a confirmed Raiders Hater from Kansas City. He writes: You laugh at Al Davis and Art Shell. You laugh because you can't fight your hypocritical nature…It's foolish to blast Davis and Shell for doing what makes perfect sense to anyone with the brains to look beyond the easy jokes about George.
Finally, someone in the national media (the local coverage has been pretty fair) consulted their brain before flapping their gums about this whole Jeff George affair. Click here for The Raider Way’s take on this astonishing development.
2. At the other end of the spectrum, we have a senior writer at Sports "Mothership of The Raiders Haters" Illustrated using the Jeff George signing as an excuse to call the Raiders the worst team in the NFL this year. Wow, how perceptive and reasonable.
3. Thanks to Raider News, Raider Nation Podcast, RaiderFans.net, RaiderWorld.net, Silver & Black Illustrated online and others for spreading the good word about the First Drive Experiment, through which the Raider Nation is encouraged to chant “Raiii-derrrs” throughout San Diego’s first offensive drive on September 11, with the intent of pumping up our team; freaking out Philip Rivers; and sending a message to a national television audience that the Raider Nation remains loud and proud. Who knows, it just might happen.
4. Jerry Porter’s star is no longer just falling. It has hit the turf with a resounding thud. Damon wrote with a link to this article, in which George “Minister of Propaganda” Atkinson calls Porter out. This is quite a reversal of the scene last year, when my cousin and I witnessed George coddling Jerry during a live postgame broadcast at Everett & Jones BBQ. Meanwhile, Jesse turned me on to this column, in which the author rather colorfully sums up the Porter situation and its symbolic resonance. Nevertheless, I don’t want to kick a guy when he’s down (too late, I guess). It is my hope that Porter will wake up and face the music. I hate to see such potential squandered by immaturity and selfishness. If he changes his tune, I will welcome him back. If he doesn’t, then he can just walk the plank.
5. I received an amazing email from BlandaRocked, a diehard Raiders fan since 1969. After he left the Bay Area for Los Angeles, the Raiders arrived three years later. After he returned the Bay Area, the Raiders returned to Oakland three years later. He writes: “I have often said that no football owner has ever shown so much loyalty to one fan.”
He wrote to thank “all of the Raiders blogging network" and asked me to pass the message along. Here’s what he says: “I check for Raider news daily. If my time is limited, I check the Raider blogs and forgo the press. You guys create a kind of daily of the Raiders and the greatest, most knowledgeable fans the NFL has ever seen. You tell the truth with optimism rather than negative, conventional wisdom (i.e., preferred NFL spin)… Having been a passionate Raider fan since 1969, I can intrinsically understand what is happening with the Raiders internally by watching how they play on the field. Your blogs confirm my suspicions, boost my optimism, keep me interested, and provide me with information that I can't get from the media.”
He continues: “Take just a moment to consider what we are currently watching, and the wild ride upon which we are about to be taken. We will be content with a 7-9 season, and mark that as definite improvement. But take just a little time to consider the image of Al Davis and Art Shell, standing side by side, in this season which saw the induction of the great John Madden into the Hall, and being presented with the big silver football on a pedestal. Old school Raiders returning to haunt the ghost of Pete Rozelle. Such is the subject of epic sports novels and movies, and it could happen in real life right before our very eyes. My Raider bothers and sisters, we will enjoy that highest of highs together, just as we have suffered together over the past three season. One cannot truly appreciate the highest of highs without having experienced the lowest of lows. Is it just possible that we are about to be rewarded for our loyalty as no other sports fans have ever been rewarded? Whatever the outcome, I want to thank you in advance for contributing to what may be the most remarkable Raider season I have ever experienced. We stand proud together. And thank you for making the best of football experiences even better.”
Thank, YOU, BlandaRocked!
posted by Raider Take at 8:04 AM
1 Comments:
Wow - to think such "great" minds as Moe, Larry, and Curly - better known as Take, Calico, and Sticky of the Black Flag Net - could inspire folks like BlandaRocked with our pok'em-in-the-eye, Stooges style blogging...
Never forget the players, the owner, the coaches, the bloggers, the readers, the fans in the seats...
WE are all about one primary purpose: WE all inspire each other to celebrate the Greatness of the Raiders.
~Stick'em
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